Apparatus for printing on moving articles



Jan. 14; 1958 w GLUNZ APPARATUS FOR PRINTING ON MOVING ARTICLES Filed May 18, 1956 awn-L 92L? m; ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 9 i 2, 19 66 ArrARarnsnoan oNMoymc William Glunzyjjlilshingg N". Y2, assignor to Lily-Tulip Cup Corporation; New York; Ni' Y;, a corporation of Delaware;-

Application May 18, 1956, Serial No. 585,872

Claims; ((31: 101-435) This invention reiates= to'apparatu s for p rir'iting'- on moving articles and more. partieulafly for markingsuccessive articles of a- SGIBZS OfQITtiGES whilein motion. The invention isaespecially useful ifor marking on the recessed covers of successive containers while they are being moved past a markingstation, as by means of a line conveyor-forming apart of filling andcapping -ap paratus. Thisinvention has been found 'particu'larly useful in the-r printing apparatus disclosed and claimed in the co-pending application: of Harold Porter; J r., and william H. .Glunz, Serial N0. .5'85',701, filed May 18 1956; for Electrically Controlled Apparatus for Printing-on Moving Articles; i

Ileretofore=.. in. marking; or; codingwmachinesr for containers ofcth-isttype it:ha's.-beenl customaryto bringsuccessive :containers; to resin at the-smarkingstation; This notnonlyycauses anzappneciablei time loss in the marking operation, but delays1therproduction line. ofitheafillingand capping :stationsrpastzwhich ithe containers' are'fed, usuallye by continuous: conveyor; For. this reason there has been .a long-,felt want .for i suitable; means: which could be employed in LCOI jQDCtlDH with? capping: andv filling machines formarkingr suitableindicia Lon ithe. recessed covers while the somainersx were, moving; past; the; marking station,

While attempts have been made; to accomplish this, such attempts heretofore hayei notibeenisatisfactory; not only ybecause iofi the seyerei timing: and registration .problerns t butt espe in; connection with r, the marking aof cont-ainers on the upper face otitheiriclosure covers: in an area whiehiis recessed: from the; upper lip :of': the: article and xwhieh surfiaeee to it be Primed upon s: somewhat yielda hl eeandinoti always in the samephorizontal. position. he e so idi ia s equ r a v r ca r pr eb wm ve mentiof thegindicia type and a printing pressure. during the iprinting engagement; Prior to this-invention these conditions could, not be satisfactorily; met without: bringns the tislfis 10 r t urin h m na et While the presen-t'inyention isespeeially intended for the co it on ab t a s fq th wi QbY Q l J h il ed in th -a t ha mar be Y sef l y; mp ye i printing or, marlgingmqarious, types of; articles; while in motion past the rnarlcing stage.

1 Ii-Q qntemplats Sam l and d nenaaal unit readily adaptable for use in codin Inaehir esand e likev ristine: a a u aa {Bra as mea for clearly andssharpiy printing,desiredin ilicia on a continuously mQvingarticlg Ac rd n t -ith li atiqn p -ri o asetonholdingjheindifeixtype to pos itivemi ec rocairr ovementi-into engagement Jwit land awayirom cesof the, article to i arintcd W il aa m tfi i zifli eand 1 i ol sr1 t noye ,yvithla continuously; moving; article;.during the 11 of]; pris ne i ga m t Th inY at b i-n tlw prov; eans for-positive holdin th :plilfl t1 eto 6 P ice embodiment of-"the' inyention for marking- 031M135. closure covers 7 of bontainers -rnade of paper: 01:? the; like; during their continuous travel from a filling andicapping;,machine, reference b'eing made to =theaccompanying1; drawings, in which! F i g. 1; is a front elevational ?view 1 showingithe; printing unit of this inventionmounted;origaireoiprocatingzhead with theindicia type inprinting:engagementwith asmoying artieleto beprinted;

Figs 2 is a' bottom viewofithe: printinggzunit'showniin Fig. 1, showing the printing face of the-stypeg.

Fig. 3 is a side elevational ryie w of the device as shown in Fig. 1;

Fig-l." 4 i sa yiew similar tofigz 1 butishowing therpositi on of the'partsjust prior to' printingwen'gagement;i and Fig. Sis a' crossbsectional segmentalfview org a spine- Whafenlargedf scale, showing further details: of? certain parts of. the device illustratediinr the=foregoing;figi.trcs. Referring :more particularlyto Figsiil A 311di31 A" print ing head designated-1 is providedwith suitablezmeans (not shown) for reciprocating. it inva; vertical direction toward I. and away from: thefsurfaceito i be printed; upon, such: as the :r'ecessediupperi face of cl osureszsof azontainer= 3. moving-r in the: direction; of therarrowKEig: 1) A printing: unit: designated" generailyasai is? rigimy-secured t0' the fllOWfii'i end aof thes reciproeablez he ad" 1 i by, inseitinggin gibs 6; which arezsecuredxntmheadzilzby screws 53 and Ir etained inzthisxposition: by a llowing'sfinger-r 20 to pass .thronghliolein frainei27. i This*permitsweasy removal \ofivprintirug unit i4 ifor-"cleaniriga andtzseryieing;.

' jacent its ;fr.ont enda and= a'correspondingtpair of: lugs relative-thereto. The pins 1 I nally S a e ihead su h a new lfi adztixe r -m I a:

17 -,Y l a it 't e n flaw are provided Yattheir lowermost extr m 9; ,9i disposediadjacentiits reartendin spaced relation to; the lugs: 8i8- in. the a direction 50f travelof the r' conarenrigi y pported 1by he l gs. :8? .H a extend parallel to the path of container-travel Amarr e 'iliisitree y sl a yimou t nithe ms ith 0 which pass through=para1ljeli horessirrgthe c Iherodsswrm areea hs rpunde U s pr ss onu pr e sucha 1 s 4:) a d. no e betw e ?'& a th as ia v at iq ar ia elli er ia -i r s i n y; r e s di ar aeirm 9 s i ia a A al q rin t ush a Ma ee udent/imprint in asidepdgeofithe carriage surrounded by helical. compression s rin s s u 1th suitable went with h meanssuch aslpoints 1 6 for driy ingeing articletoy beprinteda Themount" I hat h s i n l r we ai e tende r tionfrepresentedfby line EPs (Fig 4). theirprinting face of the indicia typetlocatedwon. thelineuBF- and are movable upwardly to" a. retracted lpo sihon substantially l A ype holding block 18His securedmto and carried by the carriage 11 and provided :wi thhmeanisl-for' m rro ably holding type. elemenI sQsuch as 4?, yvhichr in the embodiment shown are I numerals such as i may constitute a code number, ,but may ,be letters, symbolsgor any d i d 3 tion means for driving engagement with paper or the like material, it is contemplated that the engaging member may be varied as to form or material in accordance with the character of the article to be printed. Also, it WLll be readily understood that the slidable mounting of the type carriage on rods 10 is a mechanically simple means of providing for movement of the type in a d1rec tion of the path of the article to be printed and relative to the printing head while holding the printing face of the type substantially parallel to the area to be printed While this particular mounting is presently preferred it is within the contemplation of the invention that known tnechanical equivalents may be employed to provide this required movement.

' Operation in the manner well known. At the beginning of the printing stroke the points 16' of the register pins 14 engage the surface of the closure to be printed upon, e. g., when said surface reaches the line EP, and this engagement drives the carriage 11 against the yieldable springs 12 so that in advance of the printing engagement of the type '19 with the container the type is traveling at the same identical speed as the container and is maintained in printing register therewith during the full printing period, during which the points 16' have been retracted to the position shown in Fig. 1. Before the carriage reached its full stroke the head 1 is so timed as to move away on its return or upward stroke.

While the invention has been described in particularity with reference to the preferred form thereof, it readily will be understood by those skilled in the art after understanding the invention that further modifications and changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined by the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a printing unit for printing on a linearly moving article, the combination of a frame adapted to be secured to a reciprocating printing head for movement of the unit in a direction normal to the moving article, a carriage for holding indicia type and slidably supported on said frame for longitudinal linear movement relative thereto parallel to the path of the moving article, resilient means urging said carriage in one direction of said longitudinal movement and yieldable to permit movement in the opposite direction, and registration means extending outwardly beyond the printing face of said type and yieldably supported for inward movement to substantially the plane of said printing face, whereby upon movement of said printing unit toward said article said registration means engages the surface of the article to be printed upon before it is engaged by the type and thereafter as said type comes into printing engagement with an article moving in opposition to said resilient means said type is permitted to move with said article through a period of printing engagement and at the end of said printing engagement said type is urged by said resilient means to its initial position on said frame.

2. In a printing unit for printing on a moving article, the combination of a frame adapted to be secured to a printing head for movement of the unit in a direction toward the moving article, a carriage for holding indicia type, means supporting said carriage from said frame for movement relative thereto in a direction parallel to the path of the moving article, resilient means urging said carriage in one direction of said parallel movement and yieldable to permitv movement in the opposite direction,

' and registration means comprising a driveengaging portion yieldably held outwardly beyond the printing face of said type for advance registering engagement with the article to be printed and movable in a direction normal to said printing face to substantially the plane thereof, whereby upon movement of said printing unit toward said article said registration drive engaging portion engages the surface of the article to be printed upon before it is engaged by the type and thereafter as said type comes into printing engagement with an article moving in opposition to said resilient means said type is moved with said article through a period of printing engagement and at the end of said printing engagement said type is urged by said resilient means to its initial position on said frame.

3. In a printing unit for printing on a linearly moving article, the combination of a frame adapted to be secured to a reciprocating printing head for movement of the unit in a direction normal to the moving article, a carriage for holding indicia type and slidably supported on said frame for longitudinal linear movement relative thereto parallel to the path of the moving article, resilient means urging said carriage in one direction of said longitudinal movement and yieldable to permit movement in the opposite direction, and registration means comprising a pair of pins spaced apart in said longitudinal direction and slidably mounted on said carriage for movement in a direction normal to the printing face of said type, said pins having pointed outer ends and being provided with resilient means urging the pointed ends of said pins outwardly beyond said printing face for advance registering engagement with the article to be printed upon and yieldable to permit movement of said pointed ends inwardly as said type moves into printing engagement with said article, whereby upon movement of said printing unit toward said article said registration means engage the surface of the article to be printed upon before it is engaged by the type and thereafter as said type comes into printing engagement with an article moving in opposition to said carriage resilient means said type is permitted to move with said article through a period of printing engagement and at the end of said printing engagement said type is urged by said carriage resilient means to its initial position on said frame.

4. In a printing unit for printing on a linearly moving article, the combination of a frame adapted to be secured to a reciprocating printing head for movement of the unit in a direction normal to the longitudinally moving article, said frame having a pair of laterally spaced parallel guide rods extending parallel to the path of movement of said article, a carriage holding indicia type and slidably supported on said guide rods for longitudinal linear movement thereon and helical springs surrounding said rods and disposed between said carriage and frame andyieldably urging said carriage in one direction of said longitudinal movement while permitting movement in the opposite direction, whereby upon movement of said printing unit into printing engagement with an article moving in a direction in opposition to said springs said type is permitted to move with said article through a period of printing engagement and at the end of said printing engagement said type is urged by said springs to its initial position on said frame.

5. In apparatus for printing on a longitudinally moving article comprising a printing head reciprocable ina direction normal to the path of the moving article, the combination with said printing head of a printing unit comprising a frame secured to said head for movement therewith, said frame having a pair of laterally spaced parallel guide rods extending parallel to the path of move ment of said article, a carriage holding indicia type and slidably supported on said guide rods for longitudinal linear movement thereon and helical springs surrounding said rods and disposed between said carriage and frame in the opposite direction, whereby upon movement of said printing unit into printing engagement with an article moving in a direction in opposition to said springs said type is permitted to move with said article through a period of printing engagement and at the end of said printing engagement said type is urged by said springs to its initial position on said frame.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Mitchell Apr. 16, 1918 Gottscho May 22, 1956 Hirschey Dec.25, 1956 

